By Robert Cleveland
Contributor Robert Cleveland is the IT Director for a document management services company. When he isn't working on computers and scanners, he's spending time with his wife and kids, or...

Robert Cleveland
Contributor Robert Cleveland is the IT Director for a document management services company. When he isn't...

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The next president will be a corrupt liar, no matter which party wins.

This morning, my 5-year-old daughter asked me, "Dada, who is going to be the next president?"

"Well, it's either going to be a criminal, or a liar," I told her.

"You're joking, right?"

"No, actually, I'm not."

She looked confused and concerned…and who can blame her? Even my 5-year-old knows that we should be better than this.

The Republicans' and Democrats' conventions each sent very distinct messages.

Make America Something Again

The message the Republicans tried sent to the public was Donald Trump as Savior. The theme of the convention was clear: America's got 99 problems, and Donald J. Trump is the only one who can solve them. Speech after speech from politicians and family members extolled the virtues - both real and imagined - of Donald Trump, and Trump's own acceptance speech laid out a grim picture of what America has become, and himself as the only solution...rather ironic for the party that isn't supposed to be looking to the government for solutions.

The message to those inside the party was decidedly less subtle. Every effort by conservatives to challenge the power of the party establishment was opposed and crushed. And while Donald Trump ran on his status as an anti-establishment party outsider throughout the primary, the convention saw his campaign easily meld with the establishment, pushing conservatives to the sidelines. Ted Cruz was the only one willing to stand up to this cult of personality, though his advice is getting more and more difficult to follow:

If you love our country, and love our children as much as you do, stand, and speak, and vote your conscience, vote for candidates up and down the ticket who you trust to defend our freedom, and to be faithful to the Constitution.

But, of course, one speech could not overcome this new alliance between Trump and the establishment, and thanks to some carefully-coordinated theatrics by Trump and the GOP elites, Ted Cruz is now considered Enemy #1 of the GOP - possibly even more-so than Hillary Clinton, considering that the morning after he accepted the Republican nomination, Trump seemed to be seriously considering putting tens of billions of dollars toward defeating Ted Cruz…because the message of the convention was clear: Submit. Give in. Principles don't matter, not when there's an election at stake.

Are You Ready For The Hildabeast?

The Democrat convention was a study in deception. In many ways, it was brilliant - very polished, very Hollywood.

That wasn't the whole convention, of course; it started out with high drama, the release of DNC emails confirming what most everyone already knew: for the "Democrats," democracy really doesn't matter. The party elites chose their candidate, and their candidate was the winner. Bernie Sanders never really had a chance.

Sanders's supporters were able to push Debbie Wassermann Schultz to depart a few days earlier than planned, but other than that, they had no real effect. Sanders still endorsed Hillary. Just like Vegas, the house always wins.

That was the only real controversy of the Democrats' convention. Oh, sure, there were protests outside of the wall the DNC had erected to keep their own huddled masses out - there was even a small tent city, reminiscent of Occupy Wall Street. But inside the arena, it was all gloss and polish, with propaganda that would make the Soviets blush.

Ironically, many of the same people who slammed Ted Cruz for standing on principle went on to slam Bernie Sanders for selling out. I would say "make up your mind," but this is politics…what is said one minute rarely matters two minutes later.

One of the biggest things that raised my hackles was all of the talk about what a positive role model Hillary supposedly is for girls across America. Frankly, Hillary Clinton is about the last woman on Earth I want my daughters to emulate. She is quite possibly the most corrupt politician in the history of American politics, yet somehow she has not only avoided prison, but has lied her way to the top of her party's ticket.

This is what we've reduced ourselves to: the next president will be a corrupt liar, no matter which party wins. Our national debate over who will be the next president is over two candidates who should both be universally rejected.

the Next President: Details

"the Next President" was first released on 8.1.2016 and last updated on 10.17.2018 6:53 AM EDT.
Robert Cleveland submitted this feature to AND Magazine.
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